Every day I experience life in the world of healthcare IT, supporting 3000 doctors, 18000 faculty, and 3 million patients. In this blog I record my experiences with infrastructure, applications, policies, management, and governance as well as muse on such topics such as reducing our carbon footprint, standardizing data in healthcare, and living life to its fullest.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Cool Technology of the Week

Over the past year, I've tested the Cisco Telepresence CTS 500 and Tandberg EX-90 video teleconferencing technologies in my home. They've worked very well to reduce my travel schedule but they are more expensive than a typical consumer would want to spend.

This week, Cisco introduced the umi (You-Me) a home telepresence unit that will be sold by Best Buy for $599 starting October 18. It requires an internet connection, an HDMI connection to an existing HDTV, and a PC or Mac for checking video voice mail.

This does not seem to make too much sense. For $599 one can buy a laptop that has video conferencing functionality + more. I expect apple to come out with an $30 add-on for $99 AppleTV that should be able to do just that + use open source protocol.

Have you had any experience with Vidyo? While clearly aimed at the corporate market for telepresence and not a standalone solution like the umi, I happened across them and liked the use of standard equipment and existing connections over dedicated systems and leased connections. Just curious if you've seen or heard anything on this or similar.